Athlete turned physical trainer Sanjeeva

Angu Rajendran

Sanjeeva Alwis Dissanayake, is a self-trained athlete who was stunning his school mates and All Island athletes about ten to twelve years ago when he breasted the 100m and 200m finish line first, without even a coach.

A student of CMS College Kottawa, Sanjeeva trained himself. He was the Under 19 All Island sprint specialist who later trained himself into middle distance running, winning the under 19, 400m as well.

What does an athlete do when he leaves school? Sanjeeva who was obsessed with planning out his own athletic training program without a coach - a phenomenon that does not exist today, was very used to finding out what works and what does not work. He checked out what exercises would help which muscle when done how often?

Very much like a Michelangelo who checked out mortuaries to draw the muscles on his naked paintings, Sanjeeva, checked the way his own muscles developed with each of his exercises. How long did he have to exercise? What exercises did he have to do to develop his biceps, triceps and his abdominal muscles? He found them out for himself with patience and endurance. This self teaching took him on to greater heights.

Sanjeeva joined Footworks - a dance academy as he finished school. As he built his body and found his rhythm in his dance classes, he was encouraged by Senaka de Silva to become a model. Much to his own surprise, Sanjeeva was chosen Model of the Year in 1997. He says I owe a lot to Senaka de Silva. He was the first person who trained me, in poise and walk and gestures and manners.

The model Sanjeeva continued his dancing and modelling routines when he was asked by one of the judges at the dance competition to enter the Body Builder Sri Lanka contest where he won the gold medal for novices in 2008. From then on, his career as a personal trainer took off. Sanjeeva's dance partner Subashini Premachandra was his first client. He trained her for fitness to build up her energy levels to partner his dance routines. She introduced him to all her friends at a party, where Sanjeeva's new career blossomed. Patient and understanding - Sanjeeva is the ideal physical fitness trainer for clients of all sorts. He trains about ten to fifteen clients at Kess who run through vigourous exercises to music that Sanjeeva has devised for them, in order to lose weight and stay slim. He trains Dr Mrs Ken Balendra for fitness at her own pace, now three times a week.

He also trains Dr Mrs Chandini Perera, consultant surgeon at the Burns unit, for toning and fitness along with her engineer husband Wazantha. As Sanjeeva says I can easily take more than one student in one class, each one at their own pace with their own programs that he plans out, each visit. He has about thirty different clients in a month.

As a personal trainer, Sanjeeva Alwis Dissananyake is a gem. He is motivating. He turns up at the appointed time, not allowing you to change your mind as you can do when you have to go to a gym. He understands when you need to tone up, when you need to lose calories, when you want to exercise to stay fit or when you want to just exercise for fun. He is able to devise exercises to that you enjoy.

As he says, "Unlike in a gym, I don't have the same equipment and syllabus for all. In fact, I don't need any equipment at all to make my clients realize the strength and energy that they have within.

I just coax and motivate my clients to help them enjoy what they were born to do exercise and allow their blood to circulate. God made man to walk the earth. With civilization and technology, man walks or even moves less and less. My job is to make my clients understand what we were born to do. Enjoy being fit and to enjoy sports activities.